Children with big eyes by Margaret Keane. Margaret Keane and big eyes

Since 2012, Tim Burton (Hollywood) has been filming a film about the artist Margaret Keane (Amy Adams), who has been a Jehovah's Witness for over 40 years. In Awake! for July 8, 1975 (eng) her detailed biography was published.

Film is history.

Biography of Margaret Keane

My life as a famous artist.

Big eyes, why?

Always "Why?" These questions, it seems to me, were later reflected in the eyes of the children in my paintings, which seem to be addressed to the whole world. The gaze was described as penetrating into the soul. They seemed to reflect the spiritual alienation of most people today, their longing for something outside of what this system offers.

From sad eyes to happy eyes

painting by Margaret Keane "Love changes the world."

Margaret Keane today

Amy Adams is studying with Margaret Keane at her studio in preparation for her role in Big Eyes.
Here Margaret Keane at the Museum contemporary art.

December 15, 2014 in New York.

" Stand up for your rights, be brave and don't be afraid "

Margaret Keane

" I hope the movie helps people never lie. Never! One tiny lie can turn into terrible, scary things.." says Keane in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

The purpose of this article is not to urge you to watch the film, since the film does not say a word that she is a Jehovah's Witness. The film tells the story of Margaret's life before she became a Witness. But perhaps with the help of this upcoming movie, one of us can start good conversation with a man about the truth.

A selection of the most remarkable paintings Margaret Keane

After the release of the film Big Eyes by the great Tim Burton, interest in the American artist of the second half of the 20th century, Margaret Keane, increased with renewed vigor.

Margaret Keane is an American artist who gained fame and recognition for her depiction of exaggerated large eyes and litigation regarding the authenticity of her work. Margaret's husband Walter Keane, for a long time sold paintings created by Margaret, signing them with his name. Being a good advertiser and a skilled businessman, Big Eyes paintings became so popular that the family managed to open their own gallery. At some point, Margaret got tired of the lies and the constant need to hide herself and her work. She is divorcing Walter and is filing a lawsuit claiming that all of Walter's paintings created over the course of ten years are her own. Considering the case in court, in order to determine the true author of Big Eyes, the judge suggested that everyone, within an hour, right there in the courtroom, draw one work. Walter refused to paint, citing a sore shoulder. Margaret drew the next Big Eyes in fifty-three minutes. The case was decided in favor of Margaret Keane, with four million dollars in damages.

Stylistically, the work of Margaret Keane can be divided into two stages. The first stage is the time when she lived with Walter and signed her works with his name. This stage is characterized by dark tones and sad faces. After Margaret's escape to Hawaii, joining the Witnesses of the Jehovah's Church and restoring her name, the style of Margaret's work also changes. Pictures become brighter, faces, albeit with Big eyes, become happy and peaceful.

Today, the topic of our post will be a famous American artist, whose work has stirred up the world and forced millions to buy famous paintings. In 1960, her melancholy paintings of girls with big eyes were at the peak of popularity, and her ignoble husband reaped all the laurels, having appropriated the authorship of all her paintings. But this is a story with a happy ending, so read on, see the pictures "Big Eyes", the best of them on our website.

Margaret and Walter Keane met in 1955 at an exhibition. Shortly before that, she went through a painful divorce and was left all alone with a small child. Walter immediately struck Margaret with his charm and pretty soon they got married. The newly-made husband sincerely admired the paintings of his beloved, he was talented entrepreneur and even then he saw what success awaited him. Slowly, in front of the entrance to one of the clubs in San Francisco, Walter Keane, with the permission of his wife, began to sell her paintings. Margaret did not even guess what a dirty trick lies in this whole undertaking. But very soon the secret became clear, and Margaret Keane found out about her husband's scam. She gave Walter a good thrashing, but he was able to convince with quite reasonable arguments the profitability of such an enterprise, they say that customers are more willing to communicate directly with the artist himself, and that society will be reluctant to perceive a woman in the field of art, and the farce has already gone so far that exposure may threaten numerous lawsuits. Margaret gave up.

In 1960, pictures of girls with big eyes became incredibly popular:
millions of reproductions were sold daily in shops, original paintings were bought up at lightning speed. Poor Margaret worked 16 hours a day, producing new masterpieces, while Walter Keane himself reveled in fame, twisted numerous novels and simply burned through life.

In 1964, Walter Keane demanded that Margaret draw something phenomenal that could hang in some cult place and perpetuate his personality. The result was a huge canvas " Tomorrow forever", Where a bunch of kids with sad eyes stand in a column. But eminent art critics rated the masterpiece extremely negatively, Walter was furious.

On the tenth anniversary of her marriage, Margaret Keane plucked up courage and divorced her husband, promising to regularly supply him with new portions of paintings. She went to Hawaii, where she became one of Jehovah's Witnesses. And in 1970, our artist decided to fight for her rights and told her story to the press. Walter was beside himself and numerous insults and threats rained down on Margaret. In the same year, she married the writer Dan McGuire for the third time. During this period, her work experienced a new round, the paintings were no longer so melancholy, and a modest smile was traced on the faces of the children.

Margaret had to prove her authorship in court, with which she did an excellent job in 53 minutes. The judge demanded that the former spouses draw one picture with big eyes right in the hall. While Walter was looking for reasons to refuse such a check, Margaret calmly painted a picture. The court had no questions left, Walter had to pay 4 million to his ex-wife. By the way, Keene was diagnosed with a delusional disorder, so it is quite possible that he absolutely sincerely considered himself the author of the paintings.

Gradually, interest in the paintings began to fade, because the public is capricious, it constantly demands something new.

In 2015, based on the autobiography of Margaret Keane, the feature film Big Eyes directed by Tim Burton was released, where the roles of the spouses were played by Amy Adams and Christopher Waltz. Burton himself is a big admirer of Margaret 's work , he even has several of her paintings in his collection , and his two famous muses Lisa Mary and Helena Bonham Carter posed for the artist .

Margaret is now 87 years old and living her dream with her husband in North Carolina.

We hope you liked the story about big eyes, see photos of the paintings below.

Poets, writers, designers, artists People creative profession constantly differ from ordinary people by inadequate behavior at home and in secular society or by excessive constraint and solitude, as can be seen in the example American artist mid-twentieth century Margaret (Amy Adams). In her workshop she creates new style painting portraits and somehow trying to make a living. Suddenly, after the first bad marriage, Walter Keane (Christopher Waltz), full of energy, appears on her way, who impresses with his pressure and creative energy oozing from him in huge streams. New family Keene stops roaming around second-class apartments, thanks to the successful promotion of paintings with small, big-eyed children. The success of the artist Walter Keane exceeds all expectations, and the sad look of the canvases appears in almost every family. “First he sold paintings, then photographs of them, and now postcards with photographs of these paintings.”

Tim Burton has long been famous in cinema as an extraordinary personality. On his screen canvas, eccentric characters constantly appear with very unusual goals, with quite worthy professions. In his new painting"Big Eyes" director left the country of blood rivers, where people roam with blades in place of fingers and produce chocolate with Oompa Looms. It immerses the viewer in real world, in the fifties of the United States, when an unexplored style of portrait art opens up to society. Margaret is creative person, but in her lies a frightened animal that does not allow her to act in full force. Throughout the duration, the viewer is introduced to inner world heroines and show mental anguish associated with artistic activity. You might think that there is a strong core in Margaret that allows her to leave past life and go to a strange city without work, and even with a child in her arms. "It can't be, youre in Long Beach!". But the more we plunge into the bright and colorful atmosphere, the more we become convinced of its weakness. The first meeting at Walter Keane on the alley of artists seems to be a ray of hope for a brighter future and successful career. But, alas, again a joint, a puncture in her unhappy life. “The eyes are the mirror of the soul. That's why they are so big. I always do that. / Why are you lying?”

The moment of exposure becomes fatal in the fate of the heroine. She is not able to answer the question, who is the artist of these amazing paintings, which, in turn, brazenly uses her husband. “Unfortunately, the public does not buy women's paintings. Signed "Kin". I am Kin and you are Kin". On this basis, the personal drama of the artist begins to flare up. She cannot find a place for herself and dutifully continues to write in oil red the glory of her second husband. Her conscience gnaws at her because of the constant lie, which has no good reason to be born into the world. “What worries you? / I lie to my child. It's wrong". Throughout the duration, the viewer observes a deep protest against the current situation and weak character Margaret, who does not allow to put an end to her inglorious past.

Amy Adams has already won a Golden Globe for Best female role(comedy or musical)" for her work in Big Eyes. This is fully justified, due to the fact that the actress accurately felt the nature of her character and demonstrated it on film set in front of the camera. She appears as a shy, unassuming girl whose basic human instincts become dull at the slightest stress. She behaves stiffly in public and every word she says is perceived by an uneducated, ridiculous manner of communication. I love the ability of Amy Adams to transform her facial expressions in each project, which allows you to create an impressive number of different characters. In the new Tim Burton film, she looks pathetic and somehow downtrodden. Compassion wakes up to her and at the same time reproach. Reproach for the fact that it does not have a voice capable of defending its rights. It's played flawlessly and the critical acclaim is justified.

The lead male role went to two-time Academy Award winner Christopher Waltz, who ruined such interesting role. His game is like a child pampering in front of an amateur home camera. many dramatic important episodes were corrupted by his rebelliousness. You can refer that this is such a character and the character of Walter Keane should look like that. But it turned out something incomprehensible and not impressive. During the court hearing, Waltz crossed the line between drama and Jim Carrey style and tried to create his own version of a lawyer from the beloved comedy Liar Liar.

"Big Eyes" this picture, which cannot be said about other works of Tim Burton: "Amateur". Before the eyes of the viewer develops real story, after the end of which there are wonderful emotions and high spirits. The overall bright picture with rich color tones is in perfect harmony with the brilliant acting, in addition to the above actor, music, camera work and an addictive creative atmosphere.

Fans of the dark master are waiting for Tim Burton's newest film, sometimes admiring a selection of very large, very peculiar, so familiar eyes.

The name of the film is "Big Eyes". It tells the story of husband and wife - two artists, Margaret and Walter Keane, who rose to fame in the 1950s and 60s. Their theme was - children and girls with eyes like those of a doe, now they are reminiscent of precious moments XX - th century. Those moments in which those eyes were a symbol of a bygone era.

Reading the story of the life and joint work of two artists, you understand and feel the terrible character of the characters in the paintings - sweet, sweet, but demonic - it seems that they are a mirror of the relationship between Keane and his wife.

One day they ended up in court proving to the world who was the real author of Big Eye. Was it Walter, the public face of the Keane realm? Or Margaret, a housewife, as her husband claimed, she couldn't even draw a sunset?

Margaret's life was not so easy, and she spoke. "For many years, I let my husband take credit for my paintings. But one day, unable to bear the deception any longer, I left him and my home in California and moved to Hawaii." In 1965, she received a divorce. And in 1970, she admitted on a radio show that all the "eyes" of the paintings were hers.

In response, Walter compared himself to Rembrandt, El Greco and Michelangelo, and said that he was "amazed" by Margaret's proclamations. The solution was found - an artistic duel in front of the judges. But Walter didn't come! He stated that he had a shoulder injury and could not write. And Margaret, in front of the jury, calmly and quickly - in just 53 minutes, wrote the next Big Eyes, which ended the dispute.

The court ordered Walter to pay $4 million in damages in 1986.

There was a lot of interesting things in this story, and I think it's better to watch the film, the premiere of which - hooray (!), Is gradually approaching! Tim Burton promised her for Christmas and recently confirmed his promise.

We are waiting for a film in which the story will be disturbing, romantic and, they say, just creepy. And to the fullest enjoy Burton's biographical work, starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz.
Hopefully we too will have "Big Eyes" in theaters this December.

But how good are these works? Then Adam Parfrey called them "saccharin, kitsch, madness", the bishop called them "wailing folk art".And at that time, the buyer continued to absorb ineverything from postcards to large canvases.

Now many critics call these works delightful masterpieces, and paintings by Margaret Keane are in public collections around the world: National Museum contemporary art, Madrid; National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; National Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City; Musee Communal Des Beaux-Arts, Bruges; Tennessee Museum fine arts, Nashville, TN; Brooks Memorial Museum, Memphis, TN; Hawaii State Capitol, Honolulu; United Nations, New York and others.

So, December is the month of the premiere, and of course, the film must be amazing, because in that bizarre universe created by Tim Burton with inimitable black humor, there is not a single dull moment!